Instant gratification and 15-second scroll cycles are the norm, while the idea of waiting on God can feel almost offensive to a generation raised on now. Yet, across the timelines and TikTok feeds, among the protests and spiritual hunger, something deeper is stirring in Generation Z and Generation Alpha. They are not just asking when—they’re asking why. Why hasn’t the breakthrough come yet? Why are the promises of God still unfulfilled in their lives?
This question echoes through worship nights, late-night prayer circles and journal pages inked with raw hope. The tension of waiting can become its own kind of trial. It’s not just about what we’re waiting for—it’s about who we become in the waiting.
Evangelist Matt Cruz knows that tension firsthand. With a voice forged in adversity and a calling rooted in revival, Cruz speaks directly to a restless generation: “Just as we don’t wait until we’re physically sick to start supporting our immune system, we shouldn’t wait until we’re spiritually weak to strengthen ourselves in the Lord.”
Waiting on God’s promises isn’t passive. It’s active, often agonizing and always refining. When we’re caught in the long pause between prophecy and fulfillment, it’s easy to question God’s timing, or worse—His goodness. But Scripture reminds us: “Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry,” (Hab. 2:3, MEV).
In the storm of delay, we must remember this: God is not slow. And the storm you’re in? It might not be the thing blocking your promise—it could be the very process bringing you to it.
The faith that survives is not the faith built in air-conditioned sanctuaries alone—it’s the kind hammered together in the middle of life’s chaos. It’s forged in the fires of rejection, refined in the furnace of disappointment and tested in the gale-force winds of delay. Both Gen Z and Alpha are not interested in surface-level spirituality. They demand authentic substance. They crave a kind of faith that bleeds when cut, prays when pressed and worships when wounded. This generation isn’t looking for more entertainment—they’re desperate for encounter. They don’t want another curated message—they want Christ, raw and real.
“When we make Him our anchor, our lives become stormproof,” Cruz says. Not storm-free, but storm-proofed. We’re no longer tossed around by doubt, fear or delay. We’re grounded in the real security Christ offers. And that’s the crux of it: The kind of faith that survives is the kind that’s anchored. Not just in theology. Not just in tradition. But in a living, breathing, present-tense relationship with the risen Christ. In today’s storm-tossed culture, the call to make Jesus our anchor is louder than ever.
It’s in the waiting that we’re prepared for the witnessing. When you come through the storm—when you endure and overcome what was meant to destroy you—you don’t just survive. You testify. Matt Cruz’s life itself is a testament to that truth, “When I finally understood my identity in Christ, my thoughts and words began to change. I stopped allowing rejection to cripple me and give me a false interpretation of people’s feelings toward me.”
The fruit of waiting well is trust. Not trust that God will always explain Himself, but trust that He knows exactly what He’s doing—even when we don’t. That’s the kind of trust that moves us from just hearing the Word to living it out daily.
Often, the struggle is not just in the waiting, but in understanding why we’re in a waiting season at all. God’s delays are not God’s denials. The very storm that’s shaking your boat may be the one preparing your platform. What if the pain isn’t meant to break you, but to build you?
“In the waiting, God refines us. He teaches us to trust Him and to find contentment in Him alone,” Cruz says. “This is so important in waiting seasons. I’ve discovered that when God hasn’t answered our prayers yet, He’s preparing us to receive His blessings at the right time and in the right way. It’s not just about the answer to the prayer—it’s about what we learn while waiting for it.”
This is why having an eternity perspective is crucial. We weren’t born to live 80 years and die with a good retirement plan. We were born to finish our race well. Every delay, every trial, every painful unanswered prayer is forming in us a faith that can stand the tests of time, trial and temptation.
And here’s the truth Gen Z and Alpha desperately need to hear: You are not forgotten in the wait. You are being formed in it. What you are becoming in the storm is greater than what you’re waiting for on the other side. The waiting may feel endless. But in Christ, your soul is anchored, and your life is stormproof.
Raised in a multicultural church on Chicago’s Southside, Matt Cruz had a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit at age 19 that transformed his life. He started evangelizing on the streets of Chicago, where he witnessed incredible miracles and later began posting evangelistic videos on social media which have received more than 200 million views. His newest book, Stormproof, is available now on amazon.com.
